I was asked to paint a cafe window in the local town. I painted with tempera colours used buttermilk as the painting liquid. It was really nice to paint and I've been told people love it! The window won the 1st price in Christmas window competition!

Once upon a time there was an elf called Martha and an elf called Unto. They lived in a small burrow behind the cabinet, hidden from the people and their eyes. Martha spinned yarn from the dust in the corners, forgotten wishes and wrong words said long time ago, which Unto crocheted to dreamlace with tiny golden hook. He crocheted among magic yarn made by spirits of the air, and secret sparkling fogfeathers donated by fairies. Together the ingredients turned into beautiful soft and wondorous happy dreamlace. The elves worked every night when people were asleep, making piles of thin, transparent and faintly glowing new dreams. Every small hours dreamspirit came to pick up a handful of dreams and took them to brush them on sleeping people's eyelids.

But one day, people wanted to clean up properly. Terrible suction scattered elves’ home, and sucked up everything! The elves just barely had time to run away to the other side of the cabinet, and what an awful thing, they were seen! But the elves saw a small child, who stooped down wondering what those tiny little creatures were. The child had friendly eyes and smiling mouth, so Unto came slowly around the corner to show himself. "What are you?" The child asked. "I am an elf Unto, and this is my wife Martha. You have just broke our home. Over there behind the cabinet, next to the pile of frames, was a very good place to live, where will we go now?" Unto began to cry and Martha squalled even louder. What will happen to them without their home? Who will take care of people's dreams and wishes? "Oh, you poor thing! Mom wanted to clean up properly for Christmas! We didn’t know there were someone living behind the cabinet. I'm so sorry!" She said sadly. The elves continued to sob and sat dejectedly on the footrail.

Then the girl came up with and idea: "But listen! Mom will bake gingerbread cookies today, what if we made a great new house for you! It could be decorated, and you will get lights. You will be comfortable living there! Mother has done many gingerbread houses in the past, but no one never lived in them, it would be really nice if you moved in! So, if it suits you, of course ... " Unto and Martha looked at the girl with round eyes. A gingerbread house! That sounded weird. But maybe they could try it, it would be at least a temporary home if nothing else. Elves looked at each other and nodded, "Well, then make us a house, since you broke our home."

The girl told her mother and sister what amazing thing she had just seen and that the small elves need a home. And so they began to build the cottage for the elves together. It was decorated beautifully and it had colored windows and the roof with candies, and of course the lights so that the elves could see better when working at night. The elves jumped up and down in excitement, watching the house to rise, and they almost couldn’t wait to get to live in it! It was a wonderful house! The elves circled around the house and peeped in the windows and the door, and desided it was perfect for them. It would be good place to live in and make the dreams. Now look how happy Martha looks when she is standing at the door of the new home!

It was school's Christmas party today. Funny, touching, excited, brisk, lovely plays and songs. It is always to nice to get to see the children showing their skills and things they have prepared for us. Even though sometimes I need louder voices... But thanks for the kids again! Only two days school left and then they will have well earned holiday for two weeks!

This picture is a scam. I haven't baked mince pies yet. Perhaps in the weekend.

I got bored with our dull sofa. I made piles of cushions, took the original large back pillows away and laid a Kelim carpet on the sofa. Voila, I have a new sofa! And the colour suits the season well. Our living room is starting to look like an orient budoar with all carpets and cushions... but it is quite cozy.

We woke to the snowy scenery in Finland's Independence day. And my christmas spirit rise up with a boom, it seems that I just need snow to get into the mood. I put some ligths around the house, and in the evening good friends came to celebrate with us.

I have been wanting an artwall collagebehind the television for a long time, but I thought I don't have enough small paintings for it. Today I was thinking about it and realized that they all doesn't have to be small! And in the end, I have quite a many leftover paintings... I had more of them than I knew. I am so happy now, finally TV is not completely dominating the wall. Although that black thing is unattractive even now. Originally I had an idea to have the TV embedded inside the wall, with a remote-control-operating sliding picture in front... yeah, my hubby said it is very possible to make it like that, but our wall isn't thick enough. Blah, I had to forget the idea. I wonder when someone invents a television which has a picture instead of the black screen, when it is shut down?

This autumn has been strange. Fowers bloom and it has been so warm, snow stayed for a couple of days. Waiting for winter to come. Maybe I'll have a picture calendar coming here to get in the mood, well a little bit of this and that I suppose.

I was in my neighbour-artist's workshop again last weekend, with my dear friend. We had so much fun, and I made another painting to open my creative channels. You may decide yourselves what the figures in the corners mean... I did have some idea when creating it.

Oh my... this sweet, lovely doll's head was on the fleamarket today. She is an old Finnish doll's head called Marja from Martta-doll factory. The Martta-dolls were very popular especially on the first half of the 20th century. I have never seen any Martta-dolls in fleamarkets... I just couldn't leave her there although the head is broken. Now I have to start learning how to restore her... and I certainly will treat her kindly with respect and bring her back to the sweet girl she once was.

So, I like colours. Not blatant, shouting, bright colours, not sweet pastels, but deep, earthy, strong and harmonic colours. We don't have dark walls except in our bedroom, but no white home for me thanks! I can't understand the trendy (in Finland) decorating style, all interior design magazines are full of shiny white, chabby chic romantic, or cool stylish homes... I would feel cold in them even in hot weather, I think! Oh well, everyone has their own taste, mine is like this.

I also like about the idea where the home itself is a piece of art. I am not one mood-by-step person, who changes the decorating and colours according to the trends every year or so. So I can paint the walls full of murals if I like, they won't be painted over at least in twenty years. Well... in this case I hope never! :) I aslo want to decorate with furniture and other stuff that lasts "forever". Old solid wood furniture, self made items, Persian carpets... things that have soul and history in them!

Now, now, now!!! Or actually yesterday already, the Nature Goddesses are all finished! Two years I was procrastinating, planning and meaning to paint the last six... until I finally started working. Eleven days (well, nights actually) I painted, except a couple of days wondering what to do with Air... But how awesome, not they are there! I also painted some frogs and lizards and dragonflies on the waterlily frieze. They are quite delightful there.

Two years ago I painted three Nature Goddesses on our living room wall, now I am finally painting more, the other wall will get six more of them. The first two new Goddesses, Time and Water, are finished, I am painting the third one in the pic.

What is fantasy? Anything you can imagine, even if you had never seen it. Is it true or is it fake... that you just don't know for sure. Fairies, elves, spirits, sprites, mermaids, seirens, whitches, wizards, trolls, gnomes. In the old times people used to truly believe in them. Who wouldn't have heard tales of house gnomes, those little relatives of Christmas elves. There was another strange underground world, and fairies were something else than nice, beautiful fairy-tale sweethearts. They were mischievous, cunning, seductive and even evil beings, who could attract a careless person to their enchanted world forever. What do you believe in? You can experience something magical here, and you may sneak into the dreamlike world of the mystical beings.

Veistoksia vai nukkeja? - Sculptures or Dolls?

Veistoksia! Koska - nukella voi leikkiä, ainakin periaatteessa. No taidenukeilla ei tietenkään varsinaisesti leikitä. Nuken raajat yleensä liikkuvat, ja monesti vaatteet ovat riisuttavat/puettavat. Veistos perinteisesti mielletään pelkästään kovasta materiaalista tehdyksi taide-esineeksi, joten määrittely nuken ja veistoksen välillä näissä töissäni on vähän häilyvä, näillähän on päälle liimatut vaatteet - no, asut - ja hiukset. Eivät ihan perinteisiä veistoksia siis. Mutta miellän ne kumminkin veistoksiksi, enkä mielelläni puhu niistä nukkeina!Sculptures! Because - you can play with a doll, basically. Well, you don't really play with art dolls though. The limbs of a doll are usually posable, and you also can dress/undress a doll. A sculpture is traditionally an art piece made from hard material, so the line between a doll or a sculpture is thin in my work. They do have outfits glued on, and they do hyave real hair. Not traditional sculptures as you could say. But I think they are sculptures, and don't like to use the word doll when talking about them!

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